Never Tickle A Sleeping Dragon
by coonassblondie
Summary: Hermione has always loved fairy tales, but she never suspected she would have a dragon-fighting knight of her very own one day. Written for the charlieficathon exchange at LJ. Rated M for mentions of sex, but nothing graphic.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, but if JK Rowling were willing to lend me Charlie Weasley I wouldn't refuse. Some text copied from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

**Author's notes:** Written for the charlieficathon exchange at Livejournal for Lunalovepotter. I had lots of fun writing this, I hope you enjoy it. As always, as much as I appreciate faves and alerts, reviews are total love. I attempt to reply to them all.

_Draco Dormiens Numquam Titillandus_

When she was a little girl, Hermione's parents would read to her. She had fond memories of lying in bed, her mum reading her tales of fairy godmothers who granted your dearest wish, of evil witches who cooked and ate children, and of knights that fought dragons to woo their lady loves. She would drift off to sleep, dreaming about the day she would meet her own brave, handsome knight.

During her eleventh summer, she received her Hogwarts letter. Her paradigm shifted during a visit from Professor McGonagall to her parents explaining that she was a witch, the responsibilities that being magical came with, and that Hogwarts was a boarding school for the magically gifted where she could train her talents. She'd always been a strange child, and had unusual things happen to her, things that couldn't be logically explained. She suspected that somewhere, deep down, her parents suspected she was mental, but loved her too much to have her committed. The idea that she could do magic was mind-boggling, but when she seriously thought about things that had happened to her over the years, something in her brain clicked.

It was when her parents escorted her into Flourish & Blotts to purchase her school texts that she realized t hat several elements of those old fairy tales were real. Being an observant person, and having access to a telly at home, she was perfectly aware that the Queen occasionally knighted so-and-so, for whatever reason. Oh, but to discover that witches actually existed, and that she now had access to this fairy-land of her imagination was something she had only dreamed of, and she couldn't wait to read everything she could get her hands on. As she plopped down on the lounge after that first shopping excursion with her copy of _Hogwarts, A History_, she stopped at the first page.

_Draco Dormiens Numquam Titillandus_

Draco. Dragon. Dragons were real. The concept hit her like an epiphany. If witches and wizards were real, then the creatures had to be too. Her shiny new wand also had a core of dragon heartstring, or so the creepy old man named Mr. Ollivander had told her. As neither of her parents spoke much Latin beyond obscure medical terms, it would be several weeks before she could translate the rest.

* * *

When Hermione finally got to see a live dragon, up close and personal, she was more concerned about it setting fire to Hagrid's hut than what it actually looked like. She and her two new mates, Harry and Ron, were charged with feeding the rapidly growing creature, and figuring out some way to keep it hidden. They knew they were fighting a lost cause, but it was actually Harry who came up with a plan to get rid of the dragon named Norbert.

_Harry suddenly turned to Ron.  
"Charlie," he said.  
"You're losing it, too," said Ron. "I'm Ron, remember?" _

And a week later, Hermione met the man that would become her knight. He wasn't wearing any armor, but rather a pair of ragged denims and a tee-shirt that had had the sleeves ripped off. His Weasley red hair was a shade lighter than Ron's, she assumed from being outside quite a bit, and it struck her how nice his smile was.

"I'm glad Ron owled me. Ridgebacks hate being kept in captivity, Norbert here will have lots of room to wander around at the reservation." Charlie explained to her and Harry as his mates rigged a sling around the sleeping dragon and hitched Norbert to their brooms.

As Hermione went to pat Norbert on the nose in farewell, Charlie grabbed her wrist as two plumes of smoke emitted from his nostrils.

"You don't want to lose that pretty little hand," Charlie grinned at her as she felt herself flush in embarrassment. "Never tickle a sleeping dragon. It could be the last thing you do."

With that piece of advice, and her new knowledge of the Latin in the front of her book, she and Harry made their way back down the Astronomy tower, only to be caught by Professor McGonagall.

* * *

As the years went by and Hermione spent her time either revising or attempting to keep her best mates out of trouble, she forgot about Ron's handsome older brother. The summer before she turned fifteen, she received an owl from Ron inviting her to stay part of the summer at his family's home, The Burrow, and attend the Quidditch World Cup. Hermione wasn't entirely sure why he'd invited her, as she was not a big fan of Quidditch, except perhaps at Ginny's suggestion, so that there would be another girl along on the trip. She shrugged off Ron's reasoning, whatever it was, and accepted the invitation, looking forward to the holiday.

She arrived at the Burrow at the same time as both of Ron's eldest brothers, and was formally introduced to them by Mrs. Weasley before she was shown the room she would be sharing with Ginny. As Hermione unpacked her bag and put her things away, her hand tingled from where Charlie had grabbed it with both him, smiled and said,

"Glad to see you've managed to keep both of your pretty hands, Hermione."

Hermione had simply grinned in response and at shook her head slightly at Ginny's confused glance, indicating she would explain later. When Hermione told her the story of getting rid of Norbert and Charlie grabbing her hand, Ginny giggled and waggled her eyebrows at the girl she was quickly considering a good friend.

"So, you like my brother, eh? I could tell him for you."

"Merlin, no, nothing like that! I just think he's a nice bloke." Hermione replied, her flushed cheeks giving away her fib . "Even if I did, he's ages older than me, he probably thinks I'm just a silly schoolgirl."

Ginny only sighed in reply as she shook her head. She could talk until she was blue in the face, but there were some things a person just had to learn for themselves.

* * *

"Hermione Granger!"

Professor McGonagall's voice rang over the sound of the crowd, and Hermione made her way to the headmistress to receive her diploma. She'd been the only one of her friends to decide to return to Hogwarts after the final battle, and she'd not regretted that decision. She had several offers of employment, but she thought she would take on a position with the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She was not only interested in having laws put in place for the fair treatment of house elves, but seeing that other creatures were treated fairly also.

When she, Ron and Harry had watched the blind dragon from Gringott's fly away in search of whatever food it could scavenge, she'd felt her heart break a little. A few weeks later, she'd been at the Burrow at the same time as Charlie and had been overly excited to find out that his search and rescue team had located the dragon and brought it back to the reserve to live it's final days in peace. Charlie had asked her then about her future goals and they had talked into the wee hours of the morning, sitting next to each other on the sofa in the Burrow's living room.

As she shook the Headmistress's hand and made her way back to her seat, Hermione scanned the crowd and found her the smiling faces of her parents. She grinned in return and continued her perusal until she found the sea of red-heads, Harry's black head right in the middle, sitting next to…Charlie. Her smile got wider and she rolled her eyes at Harry's knowing smirk. Ginny really shouldn't gossip, Hermione thought to herself, making a mental note to talk to the younger girl about keeping certain things quiet. Hermione was pleasantly surprised, certainly, as he had just told her the previous week he didn't think he'd be able to make the ceremony. They had had an outbreak of Dragon Pox at work and were shorthanded, but he would try his damndest, (His words, not hers.) Of course, she was aware that he was in attendance as much, if not more, for his sister. However, when he finally caught her eye and gave her a large smile, Hermione felt her stomach flip and she _knew _he was also there for her.

* * *

"What are you going to do now?" Charlie asked as he set a butterbeer in front of her as he scooted into the booth across from her. He had caught her after being hugged to death by both her parents and his family, and let her by the hand to the quiet edge of the lake. They'd sat on his robe at the edge of the water and watched the giant squid occasionally poke a tentacle out the water to grab at bugs. He'd congratulated her on her NEWT scores and asked if she had any plans for that evening. She told him that her parents were taking her to dinner, but afterwards, she hadn't made any plans. He'd simply grinned, took her hand, creating that queer feeling in her stomach again, and asked if she'd like to get a drink with him at the Three Broomsticks. She was brought from her musings by him clearing his throat, and she realized she hadn't answered his question.

"Oh, I plan on taking a job with the ministry, with the Department of Magical Creatures."

"They'll be lucky to have you." Charlie said, before taking a swig of his own tankard of ale. Hermione caught of glimpse of something green peeking beneath his shirtsleeve.

"I didn't know you had a tattoo," Hermione began, then flushed at the thought of just _where _he might have others.

"You're so cute when you blush," Charlie replied as he rolled his sleeve up for her to get a better view. On his arm was a representation of a familiar Norwegian Ridgeback. Hermione ran her finger over it's nose, causing a burst of warm fire to shoot across Charlie's arm, warm to the touch.

"Never tickle a sleeping dragon, Hermione." Charlie muttered, something indefinable glittering in his blue eyes.

"It might be the last thing you do," Hermione finished for him as their lips met across the table in a searing kiss.

* * *

After the kiss had broken and Charlie had quickly paid the tab, they had silently made their way outside, and straight into a downpour. Catching her by surprise, Charlie grabbed Hermione around the waist and spun her around, dancing in the rain. She'd let out a girlish squeal, laughingly admonishing him to set her down, only to be cut off by his lips on hers.

"Gods, Hermione, I've been waiting to do that for years."

"I've wanted you to do that for years." Hermione admitted, and they disappeared with a crack.

Hermione didn't know what had possessed her to apparate them, especially in the middle of the road where anyone could have seen them, so she put it down to her Gryffindor impulsiveness. They stumbled across her new flat connected at the lips, lost in each other. When they finally reached her bedroom, which was devoid of furniture except a mattress on the floor, Charlie glanced at it then quirked his brow at her.

"I know, am I a witch or what? I haven't had much time to decorate." Hermione laughed as she waved her wand at the mattress and transfigured it into a four-post bed with a mirrored headboard. "Better?"

"Much." Charlie replied as he pulled her to him again. As much as she was enjoying his attentions, something was niggling at her brain.

"I should probably tell you I'm a virgin," Hermione began, nervous about his reaction. Things were going quite fast, but in reality they'd been dancing around each other for years.

"That's alright, I'll go slow." Charlie replied seriously as he ran his hands slowly down her back, causing her to back. Whether from the coldness of her clothes or from nerves, she wasn't entirely sure. She let herself be pulled closer to him as he managed to pull her sodden shirt off over her head and tossed it across the room to land with a a wet plop on the floor.

Hermione began to cover herself with her arms, Charlie stopping her mid-way by putting her arms around his waist.

"If you want to have sex you can't stay clothed," Charlie laughed as Hermione grinned and repeated the action for him. He raised his arms a bit and bent down to help her with her endeavor, his wet hair dripping on her. As they undressed each other, slowly drying off and warming up in the process, Hermione took the time to explore Charlie's lean torso and muscular chest and shoulders. She'd certainly spent enough time alone in a tent with two teenage boys enough to know that he'd probably be hairier and then her and where his bit should supposedly be, but the reality was so much different than various fantasies she'd played out over the years.

Charlie wasn't nearly as freckled as his brother, or if he was, they were hidden by the perpetual tan he carried year round. His light red, almost blond hair was pulled into a queue at the moment and hung down his neck in a low ponytail. Hermione brushed her fingers through the long strands as she pulled the leather thong he used out and walked around him to look at the Chinese fireball he had tattooed across his shoulder blades. As she used a finger to trace her finger across the dragon's wingspan, Charlie pulled his wand from his front pocket and which a whispered "divesto", they were both starkers.

Hermione felt herself flush from her head to her toes as she let out a girlish giggle, and at the sound Charlie spun and grabbed her, pulling her flush against him. Hermione was lost in his scent. He smelled like smoke, and woods, as if he'd been recently standing near a campfire. She inhaled as he pushed her slowly back onto the bed and crawled on top her. She was reminded of a cheetah she'd seen once prowling around in it's cage at the London zoo, lean but with an obvious strength in it's legs.

Charlie was slow with her, he was a lot more patient that she would've been, had their situations been reversed. He was sweet, taking his time and holding her as she whimpered with the first sharp pain. As they reached both reached a crescendo of orgasmic bliss, they cried out in unison. He turned them over so she could fall on him in a state of post-coitus goo. Before long, they were both fast asleep.

* * *

Approximately an hour and a half later, Hermione woke feeling both sweaty and sticky, along with a soreness in her groin she couldn't quite place, until she saw who she was sharing a bed with. She smiled to herself as she grabbed her clothes and wand and headed for the loo. Charlie didn't look like a knight in shining armor from those old fairy tales, but he was a perfect knight for her.

**A/N 2: **Thanks for reading, and please hit the pretty review button!


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